Findlay High School only allowed one goal to top-ranked Toledo St. John’s in the first period of Saturday’s hockey game.
Unfortunately for the Trojans, the floodgates opened in the second period as the Titans tacked on four more goals for the 5-0 win over Findlay in the Northwest Hockey Conference finale for both teams at Huntington Bank Arena.
St. John’s, which won the league with a 6-1-1 record, got on the board in the first period with a short-handed goal from Ian Rapp after he took a pass from Ben Hamilton.
Rapp added another short-handed goal on an assist from Caleb Havenstein at 12:13 of the second period, then assisted on Havenstein’s power play goal at 8:16.
Just 34 second later Zander Homer scored on assists from Nick Baumgartner and Ben Hamilton. Hamilton and Baumgartner also teamed for the assist on St. John’s final tally from Rapp.
St. John’s had a 42-20 edge in shots. Findlay goaltender Joe Longo recorded 37 saves while Mike Barrett had 20 saves for the Titans.
Findlay returns to the ice at 6 p.m. Tuesday for an OHSAA District quarterfinal game against Toledo St. Francis at Sylvania’s Tam-O-Shanter Arena. It will be the fourth matchup of the season between the two teams. Findlay and St. Francis tied 4-4 in the Cold Turkey Tournament, hosted by Sylvania Northview and held at Tam-O-Shanter in late November. In league play, the Knights own two 2-1 decisions over the Trojans.
The winner of Tuesday’s contest will advance to Friday’s 7 p.m. district semifinal to face the winner of today’s matchup between Toledo St. John’s and Sylvania Southview.